The Yepez Foundation

Fundación Yepéz A. C. is a non-profit organization dedicated to protecting Sea Turtles as well as other community conservation projects through sustainable methods.

Our main goal is to help protect sea turtles in our area by patrolling the beach which is a vital nesting habitat. We patrol the 43 km long beach (by foot or by quad bike when we have one) to help protect the female turtles that come to lay their eggs on our beach. We also monitor all the nests as some require moving to a safe location, our incubator. In this way we can help protect this endangered species.

We also organize events and other environmental projects such as reforestation campaigns, beach cleaning campaigns, recycling programs, environmental education etc.

The founders of this project started to protect and save Sea Turtles in 1967 on this beach. Thanks to them and their hard work, we still have the opportunity to continue this critically important battle, to help save the turtles and implement other environmental projects.

Our Activities

What We Need

Most of the work is hands-on conservation at the back.Much help is also needed at the office doing administrative work, at the reforestation projects, community projects, environmental education, beach clean-ups and recycling programs.

Variety is definitely part of the job!

When

Anytime

Duration

Short term volunteers can come for 2-7 weeks
Long term volunteers can come for 2-6 months

What We Provide

Accommodation

Meals

We provide accommodation in rooms or tents and meals are provided on site

Important Info

Suitable For

Everyone

Minimum Stay

Any period of time

Staff Size

Up to 5 people

Fees

Short term volunteers (2-7 weeks) pay US $350/week for their food and accommodation and airport/bus station pick-up

Long term volunteers (2 – 6 months) pay MXN$1200/ week for their food and accommodation

Watch Us

3 Reviews

“I enjoyed three weeks at the charity and learned valuable skills. I helped with things I could never have imagined I’d be doing and met some amazing people on my journey, will always remember my time at the charity!”

“My name is Stacie and I'm a 27 year old Canadian who spent four months backpacking throughout South and Central America. I knew that I wanted to spend part of that time volunteering, but when I was researching the different volunteer projects available in Mexico, I was totally overwhelmed by the hundreds of options available and was at a total loss for which one to choose. Are they a trustworthy organization? Will the money I'm contributing get to the cause itself? What kind of work will I be doing? And how can I best spend my time to make a difference? These were all question I had swirling around in my mind as I tried to choose. I emailed with a few organizations before finally deciding on the Yepez Foundation. They were extremely helpful and accommodating while I was planning my trip and answered all my question quickly and thoroughly. It was off to a great start!Even so, I was still nervous as I took a bus to the small town of Veracruz. Would someone be there to meet me? Would it look like the pictures? What would the other volunteers be like? I am happy to say that everything surpassed my expectations and that I had nothing to worry about. Ricardo, Peppi and all the people at the Yepez Foundation were so welcoming and made me feel like a part of the family from the moment I showed up. During my two weeks there, I contributed to many project including building corrals for the eggs, helping with school presentations and almost daily beach patrols on ATVs. Even though I was there at the beginning of the nesting period (April), I was still very fortunate to see Kemp Ridley turtles laying their eggs, and then later, rescuing about 300 eggs. It is truly an unforgettable experience. This was definitely one of the best two weeks of my entire trip. If you're at all feeling the way I did, nervous, uncertain but confident that you want to make a difference, then I definitely recommend choosing the Yepez Foundation. You won't be disappointed!”

“I volunteered with Fundación Yepez for 3 months last year, and had an amazing life experience. I came with no knowledge of sea turtles, Mexico or the Spanish language and left with valuable skills. Seeing sea turtles nesting in their own environment is amazing, and having the opportunity to release adorable baby hatchlings into the sea is an experience I'll never get again! The foundation is a home away from home - I met some amazing people and lived a life completely different from my own in the UK. The work was good fun (though hot at times!) and valuable, alongside the turtle conservation we did other tasks such as giving presentations to local schools on the importance of taking care of the environment which really made a difference. On days off we travelled around the state to different cities which was amazing, ate lots of delicious food that I miss a lot and had days where we would just lay on the private beach and swim in the sea - bliss. I had a really good time and wouldn't change my experience for the world.”